Well, traditionalist I may be, perhaps even an overly incurable romantic – use any tag you like but whatever, nobody can deny that these evocative period postcards from their short window in history are a wonderful source of reference for today’s students of the fashion trends of that bygone era when these stunning, feather adorned hats were very much a ‘must have’ accessory for the elegant young ladies of the day.
Although they are indeed long gone, such is the crazy world we live in today that, coupled with the creativity of modern day fashion gurus, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that one day we just may see a designer or two promoting the mass return of these astonishing feathered creations. Impossible? You would almost certainly think so but, with the world being such a mad place where seemingly, anything goes, I would never bet against it. Fortunately, for the present at least, our feathered friends can rest more easily in knowing that today’s more enlightened conservationists and protection lobbies around the world – especially the RSPB in the UK and the National Audubon Society in America – wielding much greater clout than in those earlier days, would have a very great deal to say about that. Opposition would be fierce for sure – and rightly so.
And so in summary, we’ve looked at the amazing ladies’ hat fashions of the Edwardian period and we’ve looked at the depths to which at least some of the human race sank in its brutal treatment of the avian population – purely in pursuit of money and in satisfying the fashion trends of the day. Thankfully, there were those enlightened folk around at the time who tried their best to do something about it and sowed the seeds of change.
For my part, while appreciating that we cannot change what has happened in the past, I’m firmly on the side of the birds and I’ll stick to my postcards. But nonetheless, I hope you have enjoyed meeting just a few of my Edwardian ‘girlfriends’, their youthful faces captured forever in time, in their amazing feathered creations. Long gone they may be, but thanks to the postcards of the day, their images live on.
Gosh Granny, ‘Where Did You Get That Hat?’
© Peter Kimpton – December 2015